Comments on: Whether to post FPP on price breaks in Audible

Whether to post FPP on price breaks in Audible

rossination — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:26:43 -0800

I'm trying to decide whether or not to post a particular FPP. Would the following be a case of PepsiBlue?

Audible.com has recently lowered the price of several of its radio shows, including the popular-among-MeFites This American Life, to $.95 an episode. I know that TAL episodes can be acquired via - *ahem* - other - methods, but TAL's high cost on Audible (used to be $4 a show?) have been griped about around here before, and it seems like people would be interested in seeing the news about the reduction in cost.

I don't work for Audible, and I have had my complaints about them in the past, but I think this is pretty cool and don't know how many other folks know about it. On the other hand, I don't want to be an annoying pain in the ass.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:42:42 -0800

If you were to post it, I would comment that I was surprised they cost anything since most stuff on NPR is freely available.

By: turducken

turducken — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:45:24 -0800

Seems to me you just posted it.

And if you have no connection to the product, ergo it's not PepsiBlue. But then again, I'm no expert.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:49:20 -0800

"I don't want to be an annoying pain in the ass."

Too late!

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:54:42 -0800

I don't hate Ira Glass, but for some reason I want to.

By: keswick

keswick — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:04:42 -0800

orthogonality: dont worry, i hate him for you.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:10:00 -0800

From WBEZ in Chicago distributed via Public Radio International it's This American Life, I'm Ira Glass. Our show today is in three acts: act one, Seeing Pepsi Blue, a Metafilter user wants to make a post and makes a startling discovery in the process; act two, Snark to the Angels, in which a rabid band of online hounds prey on their own fellow man for the petty sake of snarkery; act three, Profit.

I'd say it's fine.

When. Our. Programme. Continues.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:13:07 -0800

And if you have no connection to the product, ergo it's not PepsiBlue

Huh? No, PepsiBlue is promotion of a product with an FPP. It doesn't necessarily have to do with self-linking or working for the company (though it can).

And yes, the post would be PepsiBlue because the OP is linking to a commercial product. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but that's what PepsiBlue is.

Though I'm not an expert either. I just play one on the internet.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:14:44 -0800

keswick writes "orthogonality: dont worry, i hate him for you."

Walking on Ira Glass

Walking on, walking on Ira Glass
Walking on, walking on Ira Glass
Walking on, walking on Ira Glass
Walking on, walking on Ira Glass
Walking on, walking on Ira Glass . . .

By: mzurer

mzurer — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:20:33 -0800

I think a lot of people understand PepsiBlue to be a fake netroots campaign to promote a product.

I also think that this would make a crummy FPP.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:26:29 -0800

They are also .95 on iTunes. And I think they've found the price point at which I'll be willing to pay, rather than steal...or um...you know, record.

Do yourself a favor: buy This American Life: Special Ed or This American Life: Prom.

Both are golden.

By: rossination

rossination — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:27:40 -0800

OK. Well, since it seems to be within the guidelines of Metafilter but well received by this sample audience, it will go unposted.

But goodnewsfortheinsane, that's a fantastic comment. Kudos.

By: scottreynen

scottreynen — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:28:30 -0800

As much as I like TAL, this isn't really very interesting. You could craft an interesting post around this, maybe talk about how technology is changing the market for radio shows or something. But "low, low prices!" is lame.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:02:28 -0800

*Pointless and annoying music for 20 seconds*

By: turducken

turducken — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:09:59 -0800

By: scarabic

scarabic — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:22:20 -0800

if you have no connection to the product, ergo it's not PepsiBlue

I don't think the original Pepsi Blue poster had actually worked on the soft drink product. The "pepsiblue!" thing is more about making a post which exists just to showcase a commercial product. I tend to object to those since commercial products have their own advertising, etc.

However, I think this post could be pulled off. You mention several angles in relation to this. The previous price. Past reaction to this on MeFi. The other methods of acquiring. Id's say if your post encapsulated links to all that and you put everything in context, this could be interesting.

By: bardic

bardic — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:23:15 -0800

I'm pretty bipolar when it comes to TAL. Sometimes I think it's great and witty and open-minded. Sometimes I think, man, David Sedaris is kind of funny, but he's an extremely self-obsessed asshole. As is that woman who wrote the book about presidents being assasinated. As is Ira Glass. It's really just Seinfeld with fewer laughs. And far too much TMBG.

Or something.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:45:13 -0800

bardic is my polar opposite.

By: four panels

four panels — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:48:57 -0800

I use Audible, no complaints, really, but most every book can be gotten from torrents. Audible has some pretty tight DRM, and why pay for a book if the author is dead?

By: mathowie

mathowie — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:58:06 -0800

I like everything about TAL except Ira Glass. His style bugs me and I end up quitting any show before it is over.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:27:26 -0800

WE CAN'T TRUST THE SWORD OF A THOUSAND TRUTHS TO A N00B!

By: kosem

kosem — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:36:35 -0800

Here's a good rule:

If you have to wonder whether posting something will make you an annoying pain in the ass, and not merely annoy the small and vocal hyperproprietous minority, don't post it because it's not a good FPP.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:36:36 -0800

This was sortof already in AskMe and very interesting to a small group of people and highly snarkworthy to a much larger group of people. You've already gotten your answer, but I'd say, again "yeah, no"

By: Item

Item — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:58:33 -0800

I'd say "no, yeah" but that really wouldn't help matters much, would it?

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:34:24 -0800

WE CAN'T TRUST THE SWORD OF A THOUSAND TRUTHS TO A N00B!

That's one of the best lines in the world of Warcraft.

By: mzurer

mzurer — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:37:40 -0800

why pay for a book if the author is dead?

Seriously?

By: timeistight

timeistight — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:50:41 -0800

dobbs: "Pepsi Blue has become a sort of catch-all cat-call for something that's a possible shill posting on MetaFilter - that is, an ad or product endorsement for reasons other than just overall consumer joy."

Seems this fits the "overall consumer joy" criteria. But then again, I'm not a consumer, nor have I ever felt joy.
posted by turducken at 6:09 PM PST on October 4

But dobbs didn't say that, at least in this thread. You appear to be willfully misquoting him.

And I think the original Pepsi Blue post was all about consumer joy. That's what Pepsi Blue" mocks. No commercial involvement required.

By: timeistight

timeistight — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:56:58 -0800

Ahhh... it was crunchland, not dobbs, with the joy quote.

Disagree, but I guess it's now part of MetaFilter received wisdom.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 21:02:47 -0800

Have I mentioned recently how much I love my Tivo?

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 21:06:40 -0800

You know who else loved his TiVo?

.

Well, a lot of people. It's quite popular.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:20:40 -0800

"Would the following be a case of PepsiBlue?"

Hardly a case. Maybe a forty.

By: punishinglemur

punishinglemur — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:26:50 -0800

follow your dreams. post.

By: turducken

turducken — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:55:42 -0800

PepsiBlue definition came from the link in the original post. But I could just be willfully misquoting it.

By: patricio

patricio — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 01:44:17 -0800

"vocal hyperproprietous minority". Sounds good, where do I sign up?

By: liquorice

liquorice — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 01:47:52 -0800

You can read books on the internet now?

By: jbickers

jbickers — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:13:21 -0800

Two words: Radio Time. Tivo-like app for online radio.

By: unixrat

unixrat — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:38:22 -0800

Two more words: Radio Shark. All the radio you could ever hope to listen to.

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:47:36 -0800

dobbs : "No, PepsiBlue is promotion of a product with an FPP."

My understanding is that PepsiBlue is the MeFi term for astroturfing, but that there are so many people crying wolf (er, crying "PepsiBlue") when it's not the actual case, that after a while it seems like PepsiBlue means any promotion of a product with an FPP.

It's like the "single link is bad" meme: in reality, the problem is "single link op-ed is bad", but so many people cry "single link is bad!" in non-op-ed pieces that after a while, it seems like single links themselves are frowned on.

The FAQ also takes that approach.

So, to answer the stated question: according to the FAQ, your post would not be Pepsi Blue. To answer an unasked question, yes, you would be frequently accused of Pepsi Blue.

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 06:28:19 -0800

If you have to wonder whether posting something will make you an annoying pain in the ass, and not merely annoy the small and vocal hyperproprietous minority, don't post it because it's not a good FPP.

What a crappy rule. Just post whatever you feel like.

By: stopgap

stopgap — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 06:44:06 -0800

Isn't every episode already available for free on the show's website? I know I've listened to many an episode there and used some sort of streaming audio recorder to save the shows. It looks like they changed their player, but it's probably still possible.

By: prostyle

prostyle — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:13:55 -0800

It doesn't even matter if it was a free torrent, people would still complain and flag you with the blue syrup. Horses, gifts, mouths, etc.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:35:56 -0800

I know I'll regret saying this, but I think you should post it anyway. The very worst that will happen is the cow-havers will have their cow; the hand-wringers will wring their hands; the naysayers may say nay. And Matt or Jess may or may not delete the post.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:46:49 -0800

you know, I dislike those padded posts where people try to avoid the one-link-ness that they think everyone hates so much but you could probably talk about how TAL *used* to be free on a fan site, was removed due to complaints from TAL, was put up on the TAL site and was too damned expensive and then in some cluetrain move, they at least tried to address the problem. Maybe some conext would keep the wolves away?

By: drezdn

drezdn — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:57:07 -0800

Personally, I don't think it's pepsi-blue as much as a general bad post. How is the fact that something is cheaper "The Best of The Web?"

Jessamyn has a good point about how it might work.

We're still going for best of the web, right?

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 08:31:13 -0800

You should post it.
You should then get accused of PepsiBlue.
Return here to MetaTalk.
Start a thread.
Flame-on.
Flame-out.
I eat popcorn.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:04:33 -0800

mmmmm... popcorn.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:35:25 -0800

How is the fact that something is cheaper "The Best of The Web?"

Yeah, if this is OK, why not link to a sale at Coliseum Books?

By: dersins

dersins — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 10:51:34 -0800

A sale at Coliseum books where they're selling downloads of popular books for 25% of what used to sell them for? That might be not so bad.

By: jefbla

jefbla — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:01:18 -0800

I think Best Buy is running some kind of special on electronic goods this week. I could scan the circular and post that, if anyone's interested.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:17:04 -0800

I got a copy of Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years at Coliseum for a buck; list is $49.00, so that's 2%. If only that sale were still on, I could make a post out of it!

By: keswick

keswick — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:23:23 -0800

[snarky comment about our consumer culture]

*sits back, waits for praise from the cool kids*

By: crunchland

crunchland — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:29:47 -0800

And we wonder why people are too afraid to even attempt to make a front page post.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:37:41 -0800

Well this thread is Exhibit A in why you should just do it.

By: graventy

graventy — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:05:58 -0800

Yeah, I agree. Fuck the snarkers. Post away.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:45:46 -0800

MetaFilter: Waits for Praise from the Cool Kids

By: KirkJobSluder

KirkJobSluder — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 13:15:09 -0800

Complaining about Pepsi Blue on the intartubes has jumped the shark.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 13:19:44 -0800

"Jumping the shark" has become one of those phrases that was once cool but became trite and uncool at a certain point.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:06:07 -0800

More like it was once obscure which made it cool, and now it's just a phrase that means what it means, and no one even notices when people use it.

With some exceptions.